Black Orchid (Svatura) Read online

  “Do… do you know who I am?” she asked.

  Nate brought his hand up to smooth back a lock of her hair. “Death cannot stop true love.”

  Tears clogged Adelaide’s throat as she recognized the quote from The Princess Bride. “You do remember,” she choked out.

  “You came for me,” he murmured. Then realization of exactly what that meant to her filtered through his foggy mind. He grabbed her arms only to push her away. “You came for me! Are you crazy?! What were you thinking?!” he yelled.

  Adelaide threw her arms back around him with a little laugh. “You’re mad at me, but I don’t care. I had to come. I thought that after three days she’d have total control over you.”

  Nate smiled despite his anxiety. “No. I could feel you there the entire time. I held on to that.”

  “But I—”

  “Much as I hate to interrupt this reunion, we kinda have to go,” Griffin said.

  Nate glanced over Adelaide’s head. “Hey! You’re human!”

  Adelaide leaned up and placed a swift, soft kiss on Nate’s lips. “No time to explain anything,” she said. “We’ve got to go.”

  He wanted more, but apparently now wasn’t the time. Nate swung his legs to the floor. “Just had to get that kiss in, huh?” He winked. “What’s the plan?”

  Adelaide rolled her eyes. “I need to get to where the greatest number of wolves are. Now.”

  Chapter 37

  Nate and Sheila helped lead the others through the halls. It didn’t take them long to get to a large chamber where most of the lights Sheila could see were gathered. The hallways were now as empty as a ghost town, not a soul in sight. Every able-bodied person had been assembled in one spot.

  They hid around the corner until Sheila gave the signal. Then they hurried into a room that looked like a giant hangar big enough to house hundreds of planes. Quickly, they ducked behind one of the many stone pillars that held the room stable.

  “This is where we mobilize for attacks,” Nate whispered.

  They all looked around, determining their next steps. The room had a concrete floor, but the ceilings were rock. Any original formations in the cave had been shaved to create a higher ceiling. Right now, groups of wolves and humans seemed to be coordinating. But there was a disarray to it that felt off.

  Adelaide and Griffin exchanged grim smiles.

  “Nate, whatever you did to Melanie, those who’d been brainwashed seem to have snapped out of it,” Griffin said to Nate. “They’re trying to rebel, but the pack hive mind is still intact and is being controlled by Maddox. He’s forcing them to obey. Getting them ready to fight.”

  “Let’s try to do something about that then,” Adelaide said. Nate followed close behind her as she moved to a different spot. He couldn’t stand that she was in such immediate danger. But nothing was going to touch her. Not while there was breath left in his lungs.

  “This is a good spot,” she said.

  Nate glanced around. They were somewhat protected here but too close to several groups of wolves.

  “Why?” he asked.

  “Because I need to be able to touch their relationships.”

  As he watched, Adelaide reached out and appeared to wrap her hands around something floating in mid-air. Having seen her do this before with their own relationship, he knew that in her mind she could see exactly what she was holding.

  “What’s she doing?” he asked Griffin, not wanting to break Adelaide’s concentration.

  “Severing the wolf bond,” Griffin answered.

  “Can she do that?” It hadn’t worked when she’d tried it on theirs.

  “She’s got her memory back, so let’s hope so.”

  Nate felt as though something really hard punched him in the gut. He grunted as all of the air whooshed out of his lungs. She had her memory back.

  …What the hell did that mean for them?

  *****

  Adelaide wished she could take a moment to see Nate’s reaction to that news, but she needed her concentration for the task at hand.

  Now, after helping Griffin connect to the Vyusher, she had an idea of what to do. These were false relationships, and the only way to break lies was with the truth.

  First, she forced the healing glow and warmth from her hands into the line she held. She fed it until the threads that were interconnected throughout the room shimmered and glittered with her power.

  Then Adelaide visualized all the relationships she could see in her mind. She pictured the healthy ones, the ones that were whole and honest and real. The ones that were supportive and true. Then she pictured the ones that had been forced – ragged and sickly – that were connecting almost all the wolf metamorphs in the room.

  “Adelaide…” She heard the low, dark whisper of her name. A chill trickled down her spine, and she tried to work faster.

  “Adelaide,” Maddox’s voice was clearer now. “I can feel you. I can feel that another dragon is close. Can you feel me?”

  “Is that—?” Griffin started to ask. He’d heard it too.

  “What do you think you’re doing, Adelaide?” Maddox hissed.

  But she couldn’t let Maddox distract her. She kept working, kept picturing snapshots of healthy relationships. When she was ready she said, “Griffin, help me put these images in their minds. On my signal.”

  “Got it.”

  Adelaide took a deep breath. “Now.”

  She heard the collective gasp that went through the room as Griffin started to feed the pictures in her mind to everyone he could reach. The gasp started to turn into a grumbling, and then grew louder, turning into shouts of confusion and anger.

  But the threads she held in her hands, the relationships forced on most of the people in this room, weren’t breaking. She needed something more. But what?

  Suddenly, a horrible roar filled the entire cavern. People and wolves all crouched low, searching for the source of clear danger even as they braced for impact. From the back of the cavity, massive silver wings unfurled, casting a great shadow across the room.

  “Maddox,” Adelaide whispered.

  “I’m coming for you, little girl,” he snarled as he landed on all fours. He started crawling toward them, his tail whipping back and forth behind him and his talons clacking on the stone flooring. As he moved, wolves and men were either crushed or sent flying, as Maddox clearly did not care whom or what he destroyed in his bid to get to her.

  Fire erupted from his maw. But the flames curled back on themselves as they hit an invisible wall. Griffin’s shield.

  “Give it up, Adelaide. We need to go now!” Griffin yelled.

  But Adelaide shook her head. “No! Can you direct his fire between my hands?”

  “What?! Are you crazy?” Sheila screamed. “We have to go.”

  “Just do it!” Adelaide yelled at Griffin.

  Suddenly the silvery flames seemed to tunnel through a small gap until they were funneling between her hands. As Adelaide watched, the fire struck the jagged white relationship thread she held. Griffin had managed to keep his shield between her skin and the inferno, but she could still feel the heat. Adelaide ignored the burn and held steady.

  Maddox pounded ever closer across the cavern. They only had moments. The shaking started inside her and Adelaide grunted. She hadn’t expected this, not with her memory back and better control over her powers. Suddenly, she wasn’t quite so sure that she could do what she was attempting.

  Just then she felt Nate move up behind her but held up her hand. “No. Not yet. Let me try to do this myself.”

  He said nothing, but he didn’t move away. He didn’t touch her either.

  Adelaide, even more determined, focused hard, channeling everything she was into control and will. Nate’s presence had reminded her of just how capable she was. There was no room for doubt. She knew now what kind of strength she had inside her.

  She had survived losing her te’sorthene to betrayal. She’d survived losing her memory. She’d survived lea
rning the truth about who and what she and Nate were. And she was still here, dammit. She’d bet no other Svatura in history could say that.

  Everything inside her relaxed. The shaking turned into a pure wave of power.

  And then the cobweb of relationships started to glow with startling brilliance, white hot with the healing that she’d spun along them with a master’s touch. Suddenly a sharp, blinding flash burst inside the room. Adelaide had to close her eyes. When she opened them again, the pack relationship connecting Maddox’s forces was dissolving in little sparkling starbursts.

  She almost expected to see puffs of smoke, but once the light was gone, nothing remained. The room almost looked dim after the radiance. The earlier noise fell into thick silence, and then a cacophony of shouts rose up and filled the large cavern once more. Shouts of rage and freedom, betrayal and realization.

  Maddox skidded to a halt, so close she felt dwarfed. He twisted on the ground, almost as if he were in agony. Adelaide felt a small spurt of satisfaction. She’d done that. She’d made him have a part in destroying one of his most powerful assets. And she hoped it hurt like hell.

  “Time to go,” Griffin yelled over the noise as shouting turned to violence. “I reached Charlotte. The Vyusher are in position above ground. She’ll be down in a second to get us.”

  Charlotte appeared as he stopped speaking. She looked around, confused for a moment. Then she saw them, and an expression of relief swept across her face.

  Before she could take Griffin’s hand, Maddox regained his bearings with a roar of pure rage. Fire once again shot from his mouth, this time aimed directly at the ceiling of granite above his head. Nothing happened for a moment. Then there was a deep rumbling groan. Seconds later, rock and debris fell with a thunderous crash. The dragon disappeared up the tunnel he’d created.

  With sudden clarity spurred by adrenaline, Adelaide knew without a doubt what they had to do to defeat him, but she didn’t have time to explain. Leaping into the air, she shifted into her falcon form. She ignored the sound of her name being called.

  As soon as she gained enough space, Adelaide brought forth the dragon. The bulk of her size, the power in her wings, the sharpness of her teeth, the fire – so familiar – inside her belly. In an instant they were everything she was. A form so terrible in its beauty that all who gazed upon her were silenced.

  She didn’t have time to glory in her new gift. Instead, Adelaide followed Maddox.

  “Adelaide!” Nate shouted from below her, terror in his voice.

  Chapter 38

  “Maddox is going for the Vyusher!” Griffin yelled over the sound of crashing rock and shouting men. But Nate couldn’t bring himself to care. He couldn’t lose Adelaide again… not after he’d just found her.

  “It’s okay,” her voice suddenly sounded in his mind, and Nate’s head snapped up. “Get to the top. Tell the girls I need them. Now.”

  Nate jumped to his feet. “Get us up there!” he called to Charlotte.

  They all gripped hands, and then they were standing in the courtyard of the Vyusher castle.

  Nate ran for where Selene, Ellie, and Lila all stood with the rest of their family. “Maddox is—”

  They all ducked as earth exploded just outside the castle walls and the gigantic dragon burst into the air. Boulders and dirt and trees slammed into the shield that Griffin managed to erect over them before they got hit.

  “Adelaide’s right behind him. She’s a dragon. She said she needs you now,” he yelled at the three girls standing before him.

  Just then, with a smaller burst of rock and flame, a yellow dragon erupted from the ground.

  *****

  “Follow me,” Adelaide called to her sisters.

  They didn’t question her and didn’t hesitate. As Adelaide gained altitude, she saw three other falcons leave the castle grounds and sail into the sky.

  “Are you in control?” Ellie asked.

  “Yes,” she answered as she kept watch for Maddox. She sensed he was close but couldn’t tell exactly where. As she looked, she made for the bank of thick, dark clouds swirling above them.

  She caught a flash and looked down to see bright, glittering sunshine yellow scales covering her gargantuan body. Her wings almost glowed as light passed through the thin membrane.

  But Adelaide couldn’t take the time to do more than glance at herself. She felt the rage building inside her again and knew she was teetering on the edge of insanity.

  “I need all three of you to do this too. I can’t fight him alone. Shift now.”

  “But—” Selene tried to argue as the three birds caught up with her.

  “Now!” she shouted. She could feel her control slipping. “Don’t think. No fear.”

  As Adelaide watched through the mists swirling about them, Ellie’s form started to shimmer and waver. She held her breath, praying that Ellie would be able to keep her abilities under control.

  “Trust me,” she whispered, as Lila and Selene hesitated. And then, as she watched, their bodies also wavered. In the span of moments, they shifted so fast it was difficult to make out more than just flashes… glittering scales in place of feathers, an obsidian tail whipping through the air, golden claws slashing through the sky, powerful white jaws snapping… and finally, massive wings unfurling in the clouds.

  Adelaide knew she had to work fast. Turning on her ability to see relationships, she saw the lines of sisterhood connecting the four of them. Adelaide took all the rage and pain and fear inside her and turned it into a glow of pure energy. She didn’t have time to be delicate; she forced the glow down their lines, blasting it out like a fire hose. With a deep breath, she blew a torrent of yellow flame across the lines. A boom echoed through the skies as their relationship solidified, and then she could feel them.

  “What did you do?” Lila’s shaky voice came through not from telepathy, but from the hive mind Adelaide had just created between them.

  “We’re a pack now, girls,” Adelaide said grimly. “I think it might stabilize—”

  She grunted as something huge slammed into her from the side. She didn’t have time to think about how Maddox had managed to sneak up on them as she battled to be released.

  *****

  Nate watched the skies in horror. He knew Adelaide was in control. God, she’d been magnificent down in the compound. But now… now she was up in the air with Maddox. The only thing keeping him sane was the fact that he trusted Adelaide completely. She wouldn’t be up there, calling her sisters to her, if she thought they’d lose.

  He grabbed Ramsey, who was going ballistic beside him, by the arm. “I think they’ve got this,” he said.

  His brother looked at him, the fire in his eyes showing he was just barely in control himself. “What makes you—?”

  Just then, Adelaide let forth a stream of flames into the air. Suddenly, Nate could see through her eyes, could see the lines of the relationships she was superheating. A sonic boom rent the air. Every man, woman, and wolf on the ground dropped to their knees, their hands covering their ears.

  “They’re bonded! Like a wolf pack, only dragons,” Griffin announced. But he didn’t have to. Nate could feel the strength of the newly forged relationship. He gathered from Ramsey’s and Alex’s brusque nods that they felt it too.

  Nate caught a flash of silver in the clouds. Maddox. Nate heard more than saw the impact as Maddox collided with one of the girls. The alarm that hit him hard wasn’t his, but Adelaide’s, and he knew why when the silver and yellow dragons dropped out of the sky in a tangle of limbs and wings.

  “She’s not pulling away from him,” he muttered. And then he repeated it even more loudly as they continued to struggle.

  Nate looked around. “Alex…do something!”

  But his friend shook his head. “I’d risk freezing her while his teeth are implanted in her neck.”

  Nate searched his mind for something… anything.

  “Me,” he muttered. “Get me up there,” he shouted.


  When his brothers looked at him as if he were nuts, he turned to the one person whom he’d always depended on. “Charlotte. Please. Just drop me over them close enough to land on top.”

  *****

  Adelaide and Maddox tumbled and flailed through the air in a mass of writhing wings and talons and teeth. As she grappled with the great beast, the madness inside Adelaide responded to his attack, and she felt her humanity slipping further away. He was bigger and stronger, so all Adelaide could do was try to keep from being ripped apart. She twisted and writhed, trying to get away from him. A sharp pain shot through the back of her leg, and she knew she now had a nasty gash from one of his claws.

  Suddenly, Maddox roared above her, releasing his grip at the same time.

  “Get out of there!” Nate’s voice yelled in her head. But she could hear his voice too. Close by.

  Taking advantage of Maddox’s momentary distraction, she gave a desperate twist and broke his hold. Kicking free, she looked up to see Nate hanging from one of Maddox’s wings in which he appeared to have ripped a decent gash in the membrane. Maddox was now thrashing wildly, trying to rid himself of his tormenter. Nate would be pulverized.

  “Nate, DROP!” she called.

  Adelaide watched, terrified, as his body plummeted through the air. She knew she was getting close to the ground herself but waited until she was able to snag Nate out of the air with a talon, careful to keep from crushing him. The second she touched him, she felt the soothing impact of his presence on her. Even with the pack link between her and her sisters, the dragon was still close to taking over.

  She flipped to her belly and flared her wings to slow her descent and then beat them in heaving strokes to gain some distance from Maddox as fast as she could. But he followed too quickly. She knew she couldn’t get away.

  “We’re coming! Hold on!” Ellie’s voice sounded in her mind.